November 18 Friday – Sam was in New York, at the Webster & Co. Office. From his notebook:

Nov. 18 — 9,689.89

Nov. 18/87. Jesse Grant came in & spoke of an offer he had received to publish his mother’s book — (Gen Grant’s letters &c) elsewhere, & asked if we would object. He said would not do it if we objected. We did object, & said we thought it would [hurt] us & the General’s book. Whereupon he said he would write at once & decline the offer. He sat down & wrote a letter & carried it away with him. Wrote it on plain paper; asked for that saying he did not care that it should be known the letter was written in our office. He asked if it would be any harm to put some of the matter in a magazine. We said it would do harm; I believed the General’s Century articles cost the family $100,000 [MTNJ 3: 350]. Note: Sam felt that the interest in Grant had waned somewhat, and that the book of letters Webster & Co. had once coveted would no longer be a big seller.